


Evolution

by HeroSavesPeople



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Ballerina Iris, F/M, Love, Romance, Sci-Fi, Scientist Barry, Terminal Illnesses, WA AU, Westallen AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 14:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18572983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroSavesPeople/pseuds/HeroSavesPeople
Summary: When his girlfriend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, award-winning scientist, Barry Allen fights to find a cure to save her. Little did he know there would be dire consequences. He wasn’t a God, but he would be damned if he let her die.





	Evolution

**Author's Note:**

> Majorly procrastinating on my WIP so this happened. 😬

For a moment time slowed down and there was only the sound of his heartbeat thumping in his ear. His grip on Iris was the only thing that tethered him to reality and kept the panic at bay. There was no time for panic when her life was on the line.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

The sound of gunshots whirred through the narrow hallway and Barry pushed Iris ahead of him as they rounded the corner. His pulse thrumming, he blindly shot his gun, the force of the pushback jarring. He was only a scientist and up until two days ago, he’d never even held a gun let alone used one.

But things had gotten out of control and he was left with little option. He’d do anything to keep Iris safe.

And some may argue that was his fatal flaw and why they were here, but if it meant saving Iris and keeping her with him, he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

_You’re not a God, Barry._

Her words echoed in times of stress. Every time a serum didn’t work, or he hit a roadblock in his research, her words were a whisper in his mind. But they never assuaged him and only drove him to fight for her harder. He may not have been God, but he was a scientist. An award-winning one at that, but what point was it when he couldn’t use his expertise for good? For her?

He had to do something. He was going to lose the love of his life and even though she looked as strong and healthy as she could, he could see the signs that she was withering away. It was subtle and only the trained eye would be able to spot the difference and his trained eyes saw it from the beginning.

The doctors said they would try everything they could, but Barry could see it in their eyes. There was little hope she’d make it to the end of the year. But, it’ didn’t matter. Everyone could give up on her — hell, even Iris could give up on herself — but he’d be damned before he did. He already lost enough in his life and he refused to let her be one more thing because he knew he wouldn’t survive this.

He refused to imagine a future where Iris didn’t exist and in the moments he’d witnessed her getting sick over the toilet or falter while practicing her ballet routine, it was a stab in his heart. It was a reminder that even though he didn’t want to face reality, the reality was staring at him in the face.

Those moments lead to sleepless nights in the lab, searching for something– _anything_.

A breakthrough came about when a dying orangutan sprang to life exactly 14 hours after being injected with Sample 301. Barry spent the next 12 hours checking and rechecking his vitals and sending samples to his trusted colleagues. Jesse Quick and Cisco Ramon knew about Iris and while they repeated her words to him, they continued to aid his quest to find a cure. They were steered by their own love for Iris, but they were scientists at heart too. Finding a cure to a terminal illness would make them a legend in medical history.

Little did they know, someone else had been lurking in the midst, just as intrigued by the possibilities. Just as desperate for a revolutionary scientific discovery.

_You’re not a God, Barry._

He had plans to wait until he could run a few more trials but then the sight of Iris collapsing on stage made his heart stop in his chest and it was a fear unlike anything he had ever known. Paralyzing, dizzying.

He couldn’t even remember running to the stage. All he knew was one moment she was performing a pirouette and the next her face paled before her body crumpled to the ground. And then she was in his arms. He was frantically calling out for her, the sounds around him fading until there was only a ringing in the air and heavy beat of his heart.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

The ambulance ride was the longest of his life and he fought just to breathe. The EMTs offered a sedative, but all he could focus on was her. The site of the oxygen mask taking over the better part of her beautiful face, her face that looked so pale and grey, matching the fabric of her dress.

“Iris,” he rasped, his hands squeezing hers. Her hand felt so small and frail and he had to work to calm his nerves.

By the time she woke up and the doctor walked into her room, Barry had felt a numbness that came with resolve. It didn’t matter what the doctor said at that moment — it was written on her face — and Barry knew what he had to do. Screw waiting for the third trial.

He didn’t bother looking at the doctor as she spoke the words that would have cemented his heart if Iris wasn’t laying there right beside him. He turned to look at Iris instead, willing her to see the resolve in his eyes, willing her to understand that he would never let anything happen to her.

He watched Iris’s eyes fill with tears as the doctor gently informed them that her body was weakening and it may be wise to make arrangements. Barry doesn’t acknowledge the doctor and instead squeezes Iris’s hand to catch her attention. He feels the burn in his nose but refuses to let her see him break down.

“It’s ok, baby” he whispers. “I’m not letting anything happen to you.”

It was later that night when she was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch after he set aside her medicine that he brought the serum to her.

“What is it?” she said, eyeing it warily.

“Ever since we found out the diagnosis, I’ve been working on something. A cure.”

Iris didn’t say anything for a long moment, her eyes frozen on the serum. Slowly, she moved to sit up, struggling to steady herself. He gently guided her to sit against the pillows.

“Barry,” she finally said, her voice hoarse. “What do you mean a cure?”

Barry got up from his kneeled position and sat beside her. He took her face in his hands and looked in her in the eyes.

“Iris, I’m not ready to lose you. I’ll never be.” His voice broke just as his heart twisted in his chest. He shows her the serum again. “I’ve had two successful trial runs, Iris. This serum brought two dying orangutans back to full health. They were infected with the same — ”

“Wait, what? Barry, this is what you’ve been working on all this time? All that you spent at the lab was because of me?”

Barry couldn’t read the expression on her face and his stomach was in knots.

“I-I didn’t want to tell you what I was doing because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I didn’t know if it was possible, but Iris, baby, I’m telling you, this could be something.”

Iris looked down at the serum, shaking her head softly. “Honey. You’re not a God, Barry. This isn’t your responsibility, this isn’t your burden to carry–”

“How can you say that Iris?” he burst out. “What do you expect me to do? Just accept the fact that you’re-that you're…” He can’t let himself think the words, let alone speak them out loud. “No. I can’t and I won’t.”

When she doesn’t say anything, Barry pushed on.

“Please, Iris, please. The doctors aren't…it’s not like they offered any solution. This could save you.”

“How do you know it’ll work on me? What if I get worse?”

“Baby, they’re telling us…” he trailed off, choking on the words. With his heart thumping and eyes watering, Barry fights to get the words out. “They’re saying that you won’t even make it to the end of the month.”

He let out a muffled sob as a traitorous tear slid down his eye. Iris cups his cheek, wiping away the tear as she closed her eyes. He could tell the exhaustion was getting to her and soon she would no longer be able to sit up straight.

He leaned in until their foreheads touched. “Please, Iris, please.”

It’s all he can do. Plead with her, plead to some higher power that she stays with him because existing in a world without her just wasn’t an option.

“I need to think about it,” she finally whispered.

It wasn’t the answer he was looking for, but it had to be enough. For now, at least.

Three days later when Wally brought Iris home after she vomited blood, Iris finally relented. The stricken face on her baby brother’s face seemed to have steered her. After their father died two years before, it was just them and Wally had no one else in his life beside his sister.

And Barry. Had she truly been ready to leave him behind? So many unfulfilled dreams stared her in the face every time he looked at her with his soft, sea-green eyes, framed by those lashes she loved so much and made her weak. Lashes that she envisioned on a baby girl or boy.

When she whispered her dreams to him as he helped her change out of her clothes, Barry’s heart broke all over again. He didn’t think it was possible to feel any more pain, so worn from the heartache, but hearing her fight through labored breaths to share her dreams with him, Barry wanted to crumble in her arms.

But there would be time for them to rest in each other’s embrace. For now, he needed to save Iris.

He looked at her in the eyes, asking her one last time if she was sure and when she nodded, he quickly struck her vein with the needle. He watched as the serum dispensed into her vein until the clear tube was empty. He tossed aside the syringe and took her in his arms.

“Iris?”

His voice hushed and shaky, Barry watched as Iris’s eyes fluttered closed. He took her in his arms, holding her close as he checked her pulse.

“Iris, open your eyes for me. Just for a little bit, please, look at me.”

When she finally opened her eyes, he could see her pupils expand before a ring of light surrounded her iris. And in a blink, it was gone.

“Iris?”

She looked up at him, her head resting against his shoulder. “Barry.”

In exactly fourteen hours, he began to see the changes in her. And so did Cisco and Jesse.

“Oh my god, it actually worked,” Jesse breathed. “Iris, how do you feel?”

Iris was sitting upright, looking up at them with an astonished smile. “I-I feel great,” she said shrugging. “Strong.”

Barry let out a breath, caressing her cheek. “You look great,” he said, marveling at her.

The grey, sallow hue that had taken over her skin the last few months were gone and instead, her normal, deep brown skin was back. God, he had missed the sight. She was glowing, glowing in a way that he had never seen before.

For a moment he forgot they had company as he let his hands roam over her skin, still reveling that she was there with him. It was just yesterday she was in her arms, looking like the life was leaving her before his eyes.

She turned to nuzzle against his touch, bringing her own hand to stroke his cheek before letting it get lost in his thick hair. “You brought me back,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, feeling the warmth in his chest spread through his body.

The sound of throat clearing penetrated their bubble and they pulled apart to sheepishly look over at Cisco.

“So, since the preliminary check-ups look all good, I think we can hold off on testing the blood sample,” Cisco said with a smile. “I’ll just take it to the lab and see what I find.”

“Thank you. The both of you.”

Jesse smiled. “I’m just happy you’re ok, Iris. Now, we’ll get out of your hair.”

Barry barely waited for them to leave the room before he pulled Iris into tight embrace. He let out a shaky breath before capturing her lips and kissing her with all the pent up passion. It had been a long while since they were able to do more than just a gentle peck as her health dwindled. And watching her wither away before him, his libido was the last thing on his mind.

But having her in his arms and feeling the strength in her body that he hadn’t felt in such a long time, he let himself hold her tighter and tighter against him.

“Barry,” she said breathlessly, her hands clutching him. “Is this real? Am I really ok?”

He peppers kisses across her face. “I’m going to make sure of it, baby. I’m never letting anything happen to you.”

And as he made love to her that night, savoring every touch, every gasp, the heat of their bodies melding against each other over and over again, he vowed that they would have many more nights like this.

Then strange things started happening.

It wasn’t long before Barry discovered there was something unusual about Iris’s blood. How quickly and abnormally they were replicating. He had been carefully monitoring her vitals and everything was seemingly ok. Until Iris complained of frequent migraines. It was enough to concern Barry, who had been diligently monitoring her vitals, but then the lights started flickering inexplicably every time it got worse.

And then things started moving on their own. Objects would fly across the room and it wasn’t long before they realized it was Iris. Somehow, some way, she was able to move things with her mind, whether it was retrieving a mug from the top shelf or turning the hands on the clock.

“Barry, what’s happening to me?” Iris whispered, looking down at her hands.

Barry took her hands in his and kissed them tenderly. He had no idea what was happening to her, but he could see the fear in her watery eyes, feel it in her trembling hands. So, he cleared his throat and softly comforted her.

“It’s ok, Iris, it’s ok. You’re going to be fine, I promise,” he soothed even as his own heart pounded in uncertainty.

“But, what is this? How is this possible?”

“I don’t know, it must be a side effect from the cure. But it’s ok, Iris, you’re safe and we’re going to figure this out.”

He pulled her into his arms, holding her securely as her body quivered.

“Am I dangerous?” she asked softly against his shoulder.

“No.” Sure as he was of anything, Iris was anything but dangerous. “But we can’t tell anyone about this, ok? We have to keep this under the radar until we can figure this out.”

Little did they know someone had been watching them all the while. Eobard Thawne made himself known after Iris miraculously stopped a car from careening into a pair of children riding their bicycles. The coast had been clear as far as they knew and even so, no one could have known that Iris stopped the car with her mind. That it was sheer willpower that kept those kids from being run over as Iris stood on the sidewalk just a few yards away.

But apparently, Thawne had been there and felt the energy radiating from Iris. He visited their home in the hopes of recruiting Barry to work for him so they could study the mutation taking place in Iris’s genes. The slow, barely perceptible changes in her DNA that were caused by a serum that no longer existed. Barry didn’t even consider his offer of bringing Iris into Thawne’s lab. There were only two others he trusted to take care of her beside him and Eobard Thawne was not among them. A reputable scientist he may be, but this was Iris’s life and he wasn’t just going to hand her over like a lab rat. He would take care of her himself.

He would never tell Iris, but there was a sickening guilt that was starting to bleed into him. Perhaps, he had spared her from death, but had he forsaken her to a worse fate?

But as he looked at Iris’s healthy face, the hollowness from her eyes gone and replaced with light, he couldn’t regret creating the serum. He would do it all over again just to have her safe in his arms. To touch her, to kiss her soft skin, to hear her gasps as they make love, to feel her on him…and to feel her heart beat healthy and strong against his heart that beat for her.

_You’re not a God, Barry._

The moment they realized Thawne would stop at nothing to get to Iris and Barry’s creation, they destroyed everything before making a run for it. Perhaps it was rash to run from danger, but in a desperate moment in which Iris was almost taken and Barry was almost shot, they didn’t take another second to ponder their circumstances.

It was fight or flight and they chose flight until it was safe enough. They had planned to leave in the middle of Iris’s dress rehearsal for her show to ward off suspicion, but Thawne had eyes everywhere and now they were here, running for their lives with his men at their heels.

“Barry, we can’t run forever,” Iris panted as they ran another corner.

She held his hand back before he could move. Barry heaved as he fought to get oxygen into his lungs, holding onto Iris’s hand tightly.

“Iris, we can’t stop. I am not going to let anything happen to you. ”

Another shot fired toward them and his heart leaped in his chest. He tugged on her hand.

“Barry, wait,” she said, looking at him with wide eyes. “I can-I can stop them.”

She shook her hand out of his grip and stepped back around the corner to face the barrage of bullets. Panic surged through him as he ran to step in front of her.

“Iris, wait!”

But his rush to protect her was all for naught. As though hitting an invisible wall, the bullets stopped mid-air right in front of them before clattering to the ground. Eobard Thawne stood in front of his team, a taser gun in his hand.

“Oh my god,” he marveled.

_You’re not a God, Barry._

He watched as Iris held out her hand, an undeniable energy pulsing from her body to her hand. Her hair floated in the air, her dress flapping against her legs as the energy pulsed stronger, radiating further out. The walls on either side of them tremored until cracks spread across the once smooth surface. Eobard’s eyes widened, backing away.

Iris twisted her hand into a fist, a concentrated look on her face. And with one last tug of her hand as though pulling on a string, the walls came down, crumbling between them until they could no longer see the stricken face of their enemy.

_You’re not a God, Barry._

But perhaps he had created one. And she was the love of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Hope you guys liked it and would love to hear your thoughts!


End file.
